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Soldiers Chapter 4 – Parting Ways
Around six thirty in the morning, John Shepard awoke with a smile on his face. And for the first time in years, it is due to his own predisposition for waking up at early hours.
Not the memories of Thresher Maws bursting out from underground. Not the faces of his long dead team mates trying to pull him into their unmarked graves. And not the mile high flames come to melt the flesh from his bones.
No, that night John had dreamt of walking the stars, hand in hand with a brown eyed goddess, and he woke up when he was good and ready.
He lay there for a few minutes, in the dim of his hotel room, simply resting before his day had to truly begin. He went through some of his most recent and earliest memories, and he can't remember a time where he has been this… happy. Graduation day for N Training, he remembered being proud and thankful that he's made it through, and anxious for what came next. Or his eighth birthday, when his mother had been able to get off duty and pay a surprise visit to his party, John was full of excitement and energy.
On both those occasions and more John had felt happiness, but he'd never experienced it quite like this. This feeling of everything just being right with the world, and John could finally be allowed to sit back and relax with that which he cared for. A feeling of elation and freedom, like some door long hidden away burst open, letting in a cleansing light to chase away the shadows within him.
A small sigh sounds to his right, and John looks over and finds that which helped him find this happiness, and he feels a smile spread across his face at seeing her.
Ashley Williams, still clad in her blue blouse and undershorts, lies curled into his side, an arm draped over his bare stomach. She uses his chest as a pillow, and her hair splays out in odd directions. With is right arm curled protectively around her shoulders, he reaches the left over to brush away a few errant strands of hair from her face, revealing a small smile formed from pleasant dreams. He likes how she looks with her hair down. Ash's features appear softer somehow, like she hasn't spent years in the military. It makes her look more… approachable, maybe.
John immediately nixed that idea. More approachable meant more men would have the desire to hit on her, and the thought of Ashley flirting with other men leaves a sour feeling in his gut.
John sighed. He looks at this woman and he knows he's fallen for her. Hard. They'd met barely a week ago and yet John feels like he has known Ashley Williams his whole life. She is strong, smart, beautiful, confident.
And braver than John thinks himself to be. Shepard was already a respected name among the Alliance before John enlisted. He had always been expected to go on and do great things. But the Williams named had been dragged through the mud before Ashley was ever born. But she still enlisted, despite all the naysayers trying to keep her back. She knew no one would give her sympathy or an offer of help, but still she kept going, working herself to the bone to prove she could be better than what others believed her to be. Ash had called it a special kind of stubborn unique to being a Williams. John called it a special kind of perseverance.
Truth be told John was on the brink of having a heart attack when he realized he kissed Ashley in that bar two nights ago. He hadn't been in a situation like that in years, just having a conversation with a woman that wasn't about protocols or mission reports or squad tactics. He didn't know where all his cheesy lines came from, but talking and laughing with Ash had spurred him on. A part him he hadn't seen in quite some time, the fun and cheerful part of himself, had come back out from hibernation, all because he wanted to impress a woman he'd only met recently.
When he pulled away he expected Ash to react negatively. To slap him, or yell, or indeed get Brandson to pound his face in. He never expected her to kiss him back while he bumbled through an apology. Nor did he have any real control over the rest of their night. Yesterday morning he woke up from the first peaceful rest he'd had in years, and looking at Ashley sleep beside him, he knew something had changed inside of him.
The entirety of their date yesterday was John thinking on his feet, trying to come up with ideas he thought Ash would like. Thankfully, they seemed to share a lot of the same interests (Other than choice in drink apparently, Miss I'm-too-good-for-wine).
John berated himself for breaking down in front of her like that last night. He thought he'd suppressed his demons, compartmentalized them so no one else would have to see them again. But Ashley came in, and while he wasn't entirely sure what it was she had done, she had wormed through his defenses and made him put down his walls long enough to see him in such a vulnerable state. And again, where John was certain he'd scared her off, Ashley stayed, saying more with her kiss than words could possibly express.
John leans down and plants a kiss to the top of her head. Ash only shifts marginally, letting out a content sigh. For the life of him, John can't think of what it is he's done to deserve the affection of a woman as wonderful as Ashley.
An overly loud ping from his Omni Tool pierces the quiet of the hotel room and John winces. Ash groans, burying her face into his chest. Before the signal alerting him he has a video message can blare again, John brings up his left hand up to face and presses the holographic Connect button shining from his Omni Tool bracelet.
A video screen materializes, bathing John's face in yellow light, and the image of Admiral Anderson pops up. "Shepard," he greets, in a voice far too loud for what the situation calls for.
John tries to urge him to keep his voice down, but the damage is done, as Ash stirs and groans next to him. "Five more minutes," she mutters.
Anderson gives him an apologetic smile. "I take it this is a bad time?"
"You could say that." Shepard replied.
Anderson chuckles. "Hell, son, I'm just glad you got yourself laid for once in your life."
Shepard gives him a scowl, which only deepens when the woman beside him laughs as well. Ash props herself up on an arm and gives Anderson a lazy salute. "Morning, sir."
John mutters an apology as she gets off the bed, but she waves him off as she moves to the bathroom. Sitting into an upright position, Shepard can see Anderson lean forward and try to look beyond the confines of the video screen.
"Wait, was that Chief Williams?"
"Anyways!" Shepard interjects before Anderson can ask too many questions, "Care to explain why you're interrupting my beauty sleep, sir?"
Anderson still looks skeptical, but turns to address Shepard. "Of course. There was an incident along the border yesterday, and the situation is slowly starting to escalate. I won't go into details over a vid chat, but suffice to say I may have need of my XO in the very near future. I sent a shuttle to pick you up, and it should be at Arcturus in a little more than an hour."
John feels his chest become hollow with disappointment. Originally his transport hadn't been slated to leave until 1400 hours, and he'd been hoping to spend what time he had left with Ashley. Now they would have to say goodbye much sooner than they wanted to.
Hiding his displeasure behind his Commander Mask, Shepard responded, "Of course, sir. I'll be prepared to leave when it gets here."
Anderson nodded and terminated the call. John let his mask fall and he sighed, letting the back of his head rest on the wall behind him. He almost forgot that even when everything feels right with the world, the galaxy can comeback in whenever it wants to remind you how messed up it can get. But if anything positive could come out of this, it was that John was grateful to have at least met Ashley Williams.
"Hey Ash?" he called out to the bathroom.
"I heard!" she called back, and John could hear the underlying disappointment in her voice. Obviously neither of them liked how their plans were being accelerated. She opened the door and leaned on the frame, fixing John with a sad smile. "Duty calls, right?"
"That it does," he agreed, draping his legs over the bedside and smoothing out his pants where they'd gotten bunched up overnight. He felt his shirt thrown over head, and John smiled despite his moping. He removed it and looked over in her direction, seeing Ashley working her long legs back into her jeans. "So where's the 212 headed next?" he asked, genuinely curious.
Ash shrugged as she worked the hem of her jeans around her shapely waste. "I know we're slated for colony defense, but I don't know where yet. Though Hackett did mention putting in a good word for Eden Prime."
John hummed appreciatively as he put his shirt on. "Eden Prime's definitely a step above the usual roster. I hear it's beautiful there."
"I've heard that too. Maybe I'll send you a postcard. What's next for you?"
John considered for a moment. "I'll go back to being XO on the Tokyo for a while, but I know Anderson wants me to join up with him on a project he's been heading for the past few years."
"Sounds fun. And classified."
John shrugged. "I probably couldn't tell you anything even if I knew more. Though I do know it's a joint venture between the Alliance and the Hierarchy."
"The Turians?" Ashley asked incredulously when she sat down beside him, working on tying up her boots. "Some kind of goodwill thing?"
"It's more than that, I think. But like I said, I don't know much else and then it'd probably be classified all to hell."
Ashley let out a quiet chuckle, and the pair lapsed into silence while she finished up her shoes. Once those were done she placed her hands on knees and turned to John with an expectant gaze.
John worked his jaw open a few times, but he was at a loss for words of any kind. How do you say goodbye to someone who had such a profound effect on you? Or put a close on one of the most joyous weeks you've had in years?
Ashley sighed. "Look, I suck with words. Other people usually say what I mean better than I do. But… I had a lot of fun. And frankly, I'm glad I got to see past the Commander and meet John Shepard." She bumped his shoulder with her own. "For the record, this old N7 does know how to show a girl a good time."
John smiled at her comment. Gingerly, she gripped his chin and angled his face so she could plant a long kiss on his cheek. Pulling away, she said, "Stay safe out there, John." With that, she stood up and made for the door to his hotel room.
"I should be telling you that," he said after her. Ash paused in the doorway and sent a smirk over her shoulder. His voice turned serious. "Goodbye, Ash."
Her deep brown eyes became softer. "Bye," was all she said quietly, and with that, she was gone, the door sliding shut in the space she once occupied.
John felt his smile fall and his shoulders slump, and he wiped his hands over his face. He was beyond happy that he and Ashley had been able to spend a day together without pressure of any kind, but it did little to alleviate the hollow feeling in his chest. He couldn't shake the suspicion that he had done something wrong somehow.
Defeated, he stood up and stretched his limbs. He wasn't nearly as sore as yesterday morning, since last night they'd been too tired from walking around all day and opted to simply fall asleep together.
On a whim he decided to move to the window and pull back the curtains to let light into the room. He braced a forearm on the glass and leaned his forehead on it, looking out over the view presented. From his room he could see Acrturus Station's 'skyline' and where it eventually curved upward into the 'sky'. He could see a vast amount of space through the large windows placed throughout the station's exterior walls.
But most importantly, he could see Ashley Williams, walking down the street below him. Even from three stories up he could recognize the confident gate of her walk and the assurance set into her shoulders.
Almost with a mind of its own, a memory came to the forefront of John's mind. One he hadn't bothered to remember for quite some time.
Ten year old Johnny Shepard and his mother Hannah sit at the table of their small, utilitarian apartment eating breakfast. His mom told him her work would likely keep her through the night today, so she insisted upon at least having one meal with her son before they had to part ways.
At one point Johnny looks up from his bowl of cereal and sees his mother looking off into space, that glassy look to her dark blue eyes whenever she's remembering something sad. She is also fiddling with the gold band on her ring finger again.
He follows her gaze to one of the few pictures they keep on a side table. It is a picture of Johnny and Hannah, both of them looking much younger, standing with the man Johnny remembered to be Daniel Shepard, his father. The man is a mirror image of what John looks like today, but with warm brown eyes. Daniel has the cheering four year old Johnny shitting on his right shoulder, with his left arm looped around his wife's shoulders. Both sport large, loving smiles for one another.
It is one of the few pictures left of Daniel Shepard where he is not donned in pilot gear or sitting in the control pit of his fighter. It had been taken while the family was on vacation during Hannah's shore leave.
Hannah realizes she's been caught staring and gives her son an apologetic smile before going back to her news report and mug of coffee. The two of them had moved on since Daniel's peaceful passing years ago, but it was never a wound that would ever completely heal over.
Overcome with a strange curiosity this fateful morning, Johnny decides to ask his mother a question. "Hey, mom?"
"Yes, sweetie?" she answers without looking up from her data pad.
"When did you realize you loved dad?"
All of her movements stilled and Hannah stared at her son with wide eyes. But the boy simply looks back, waiting for any kind of answer. After a moment Hannah laughs a little, and she puts her things aside before folding her hands together atop the table. "My, now isn't that a story."
Johnny cants his head, confused, and Hannah laughs a bit more. She'd always said John had somehow memorized all of his father's mannerisms.
"Oh, your father and I went back many years," she continued, her smiled turned nostalgic. "I was serving as an officer aboard a carrier, and I was in charge of making sure the fighter pilots integrated well enough with the rest of the crew."
Her smile broadens and her eyes dance as she comes across fond memories. "But this one hotshot, a cocky piece of… ahem, stuff, takes a fancy to me almost the instant we meet. He spent the entire cruise talking to me, getting to know me, constantly asking me to go out with him. A few friends told me to report his unbecoming fraternization to my superiors. But I'd never felt threatened or embarrassed by his advances. I'd always found him sweet, funny, bumbling at times.
"About halfway through our tour I called his bluff, and I told him I'd go out with him, but only if he could somehow make our date work on the ship." Hannah closed her eyes and propped her face in one hand, laughing more. "Oh god, did he deliver. He set up a small picnic beneath the area where his fighter hanged during the night shift, and he somehow rigged his fighter to alternate between a series of different colored lights. Add in the candles and it was much more romantic than I expected.
"To this day I have no idea where he found the two chicken breasts he cooked himself for our dinner. It was during that first date I realized I cared about him, maybe as much as he did me. After that we became something of an item aboard the ship. No one batted an eye because we weren't really in the same chain of command, so fraternization regs didn't apply to us.
"Unfortunately, the tour came to an end, and I was due to be reassigned under Hackett's command on a cruiser. Daniel and I told ourselves that the relationship we'd had was a result of being cooped up on a ship together. He was due to retire in a few years, but he recognized that I still had a long service ahead of me. He said he didn't want to hold me back from my dreams.
"The day I had to disembark, we said our goodbyes in the docking bay by the ship. We left on good terms, but I just couldn't get over how terrible I felt. I got only about halfway down the bridge connecting to the main Arcturus docking area before I looked back at him, still smiling at me. And I considered this man for a few moments, this man who made me laugh and smile, who dredged back up feelings I had long thought buried forever. At that moment, I asked myself, 'Could I live with never seeing Daniel Shepard again?'"
Hannah shook her head and wiped the back of her hand over her eyes, even though no tears had escaped. "And I realized my answer was no. So I dropped all my things, ran back, threw my arms around him and told him that I loved him. That no matter where life took either of us, in the end I wanted us to always be together. God, John, the man looked like he'd just been given the key to the Citadel he was so happy."
John Shepard stood against his window, looking down on Ashley Williams as she walked away from his hotel, thinking. About what his mother had told him so long ago. About the amazing day he spent with Ashley. About how she had gotten him to open up where a legion of doctors couldn't. And he thought about how far he was willing to go for true happiness.
Could I live with never seeing Ashley Williams again?
"Hell no," he growled.
Acting quickly, John tore open his traveling bag and found the pad and pen he kept for writing. He ripped out a sheet of paper and wrote down a series of letters and numbers. After that he threw on his shoes and jacket, caring little for how he looked, and burst out of his hotel room.
Foregoing using the elevator (Slow elevators was one of the few universal constants), John flew down flights of stairs and past perturbed hotel guests to the main lobby and out the front door. From there he veered left, not quite running but not quite walking either, in the direction he saw Ash go off in.
She's gotten quite the lead on him, but thankfully Ash is only plodding along and Shepard covers the distance between quickly. The whole time he can't help but feel like an actor in a cheap rom-com he'd gladly make fun of on any other given day.
John is about a block away from her when he calls out her name. Ashley pauses, like she's deciding if she really heard her name or if her mind is playing tricks on her.
John is closer now. "Ashley!"
This time Ash whirls around in surprise, and her eyes connect with his. "John?"
"Wait up!" He finally crosses the last few meters between them, huffing out his breaths, and it is when they are only separated by a mere foot of space that he realizes he has no idea what to say. So engrossed in his realization that he wants to continue seeing Ashley, he didn't come up with a plan of persuading her to agree.
He briefly notes she kept her hair down while he holds out the piece of paper. "Uh, here."
Ash looks confused, but takes it nonetheless. "What's this?" she asks, looking it over.
"My contact info," he supplies without elaborating.
She looks back up at him, showing no signs of understanding just what exactly he's going for.
John took a deep breath before continuing. "Look, Ash, I care about you. And I don't want my time with you to end and become a memory I'll eventually forget. I want to spend as much time with you as I possibly can. Because I think you're beautiful and fun and confident and a thousand other things equally endearing."
He rubs the back of his nervously, and his voice takes on a slightly pleading undertone. "You're the first person to make me feel human again in years, and I… I don't want to say goodbye to you. I want to show you how much you mean to me. I want to make you as happy as you've made me. I want be there when you prove it to your superiors you're a better soldier than anyone else in the Alliance. I want to-"
Ashley closed the distance between them and placed two fingers on his lips, effectively silencing him. "Has anyone ever said you talk too much some times?" she asked playfully.
John feels his mouth pull into a smile as he nods. Ash hummed appreciatively, and pulled the hand away to rest it on his chest, right over his heart. Her expression turns serious as she looks down at the piece of paper curled in her other hand, and John suddenly becomes afraid that she'll say no.
"Look, I don't hold any illusions about long distance relationships, and I'm pretty sure you don't either," she began. "And the truth is you and I have barely known each other for one week. This has been fun, but we don't know if it could still last months or years from now."
John deflates, understanding what she's saying as true. He can't help feeling utterly depressed, but he knows he can't force her to do something she doesn't believe in. He respects her too much for that.
He tried to pull away and mutter some kind of apology, but Ashley's hand on his chest curls his shirt into her fist, stopping from moving anywhere. Before he can protest, Ash looks back up at him, and the hopeful look she gives him sends electricity racing up and down his spine.
"But," she continued, "that's usually the case for normal people. And from what I've seen, you and I are far from normal."
John huffed out a laugh and nodded in agreement. Ash went on saying, "And the real truth is I care about you too. A lot more than anyone else I've ever met. Because I think you're handsome, and brave, and caring, and a thousand other things just as virtuous. So maybe years from now, when you're an admiral and I'm too tired of whipping soldiers into line, I want to come back to this, and I want to see if this can work."
John is grinning from ear to ear now as he leans his forehead against her own and moves his hands to her waste, happiness flooding his system through every pore. "I'd wait an eternity for you," he whispers.
"I certainly hope so," she whispers back in a breathy voice, "Because if there's one thing I hate, Shepard, it's sharing."
On an impulse Ash leans in to give John a quick kiss, but he isn't having any of it. He wraps his arms around the small of her back and pulls their bodies flush together while he seals their lips in a long, passionate kiss. He feels her arms encircle his neck and he swallows her short, breathy moans, countering them with his own long, low rumbles of pleasure.
"You… do not… make it easy… to walk away… from you," Ash manages between oral attacks.
"That's… the idea."
Ash laughs into his mouth, and John loves the way it sends his heart fluttering.
Eventually their tempo slows, their kisses less fervid and demanding. At last Ashley finally pulls away, tugging on John's lower lip with her teeth as she goes. John frees her from the prison of his arms and takes her hands in his own. Both of them sport the largest, stupidest grins for one another, and neither could care about who could see them right now.
"I think you've got a ride to catch," Ash told him with a squeeze of his hands.
"I'll only leave if you promise not to miss me too badly."
"Oh, I don't think that'll happen." She released one of his hands and held up the paper he gave her. "Remember, John Shepard, I've got your number."
John chuckled as he leaned down to give her one last parting kiss. He finally released her hand and began backing away slowly, trying to keep her in her vision for as long as possible. "I'll see you next time, Chief."
Ashley smirked back at him. "Until then, Commander."
Shepard stood on one of the bridges of Arcturus Station's docking bay, leaning on the railing and reading a news report on his Omni Tool. At the sound of engines becoming louder, he looked up and saw an Alliance Kodiak inbound for his position. His closed down his Tool and hefted his duffel bag onto his shoulder. The Kodiak touched down a few meters away and opened one of its doors to allow Shepard entry.
The pilot hailed him when he stepped in. "You Shepard?"
"If not me then Anderson sent you here for nothing."
"Ha! True enough. Go ahead and try to get comfy, sir. It'll take a few hours to get back to Third Fleet."
"Noted. Wake me up when we're ten minutes out."
The pilot gave him an 'aye aye' and Shepard made to secure his duffel in an overhead compartment. He braced himself as the shuttle took off, but the inertial dampeners kicked in and helped to right his footing. Once that was done he sat himself down in one of the seats and tried to make himself as comfortable as possible. Kodiak seating might be some of the most uncomfortable and unyielding in the galaxy, but Shepard had made a career out of getting sleep in the most unlikely of places.
Before he dozed off, Shepard pulled up the video screen of one of the Kodiak's external cameras. He watched as the shuttle left the docking area and passed through the station's environmental barrier. Then it moved along the out edge of Arcturus, maneuvering around the station in order to head for the system's Mass Relay.
John watched with a smile as Arcturus slowly began to grow smaller in the camera's view. A week ago he'd been a soldier just for the sake of serving his government. His purpose was to complete the next mission and save as many lives as he could along the way.
But now John has a new reason worth living for. He'd found the one person he truly felt happy with, who understood him as more than Commander Shepard. Ashley Williams had given him reason to look forward to what came after the mission. John didn't know how long it would take him, but he knew he would find her again, and John would do everything in his power to make Ashley believe he could be the man for her.
Shepard's Omni Tool bracelet vibrated, indicating he had a new message in his inbox. Opening it up, he didn't recognize the sender's name, but he felt his smile grow wider.
To: John Shepard
I see you :)
From: Unknown Sender
Perplexed, John looked back the external camera view. He could see they were passing by the Station's park at the moment. On the hunch, he zoomed the view onto the scaffolding overlooking the park.
Sure enough, there was Ashley Williams, sitting on the catwalk he'd shown her last night, her legs dangling over the side and sporting a large grin as she watched their shuttle go past.
Acting quickly, John saved her as a contact and composed a reply.
To: Ashley Williams
Now who's mildly stalker-ish?
From: John Shepard
He watched her reaction through the video. Looking at her Tool, first she laughed; then she flipped him the bird.
John laughed himself. He watched her sitting there for as long as he could, until Ashley was only a spec within the increasingly smaller Arcturus Station.
He powered the video down and sat back to relax. He would wait for her for as long as it took. Because in the end, Ashley Williams would be worth it.
A few blocks from her motel, Ashley walked down the street before her at a leisurely pace, a lightness to her step a persistent smile tugging at her lips. She couldn't help feeling giddy beyond all relief. Ash clutched the piece of paper in her pocket like it was some rare Prothean Artifact.
That morning she had been fully prepared to walk away from John Shepard and never see him again. She wouldn't like it, but she understood both of their jobs would likely keep them separated by light years of galaxy. And as an N7 on the fast track to even more promotions, Shepard didn't need some woman distracting him. These were the platitudes Ash told herself, though they did little to help shake the feeling of guilt and awfulness.
She'd been completely taken by surprise to find John running after her down the street. And she'd been shocked to hear him say he wanted to continue seeing her despite the obstacles between them.
But more than that, Ashley felt a warmth spread from her chest to her limbs and up her neck, and she knew that more than anything, she felt overcome with a profound joy that John Shepard, a man who could make any woman he wanted fall in love with him, had chosen to fight for Ashley Williams. Her elation only grew at seeing his face perk up in joy when she agreed.
As Ashley walked toward her motel, she felt lighter than air, and the normally drab streets of Arcturus seemed to look much more colorful and alive this morning.
"Williams!" somehow behind her called out.
For a moment Ashley had a flash back, imagining John having broken out of his shuttle and hurtling back toward Arcturus like a meteor just to talk to her again. But turning around, she instead found serviceman Nirali Bhatia jogging toward her, clad in her work out clothes.
"Morning, Bhatia." Ash greeted when the older woman was close enough. "How's the arm?"
Breathing a little heavy, Bhatia stopped and flexed her left arm in different positions. "Oh, just a little stiff," she replied in her Indian accented voice. "Doctors took the cast off yesterday and just told me not to do anything too crazy for a few days."
"Good. I'd hate to lose one of my best riflemen." Ash gestures with her head behind her, and the pair began walking back to their motel.
"Speaking of the prior day's events," Bhatia began, fixing Ash with a teasing gaze, "you disappeared during the party."
Ash shrugged, try to brush her off. "Oh you know me, a few too many beers and I can barely stay awake."
"Uh huh. And what if I told you Sanders says she saw you leaving hand in hand with Commander Shepard?"
Ash smirked. "Come on, we both know how Sanders gets when she has a few too many beers."
"And all the other men who say they saw you walking around with Shepard all day yesterday?"
"Like you can actually trust the word of a bunch of hung over marines."
Bhatia held a hand up in surrender. "Alright, I believe you. Obviously you did not spend a day with the incredibly hunky Commander Shepard doing whatever it is you young people do for fun nowadays." Bhatia waggled her eyebrows suggestively and Ashley couldn't help laughing. She'd always like the Indian woman. Bhatia had a calm, motherly presence, and Ash could always rely on her to keep the men in line when Ash wasn't present.
Bhatia sighed and looked off into the distance, her eyes taking that glassy look to them whenever she was about to get nostalgic. "Have I ever told you about my husband, Ashley?"
"Only about twice a week, Nirali."
"Hmm. Well, did I tell you about the first time he asked me out?"
Ash thought a moment. "No, I don't think I've heard that one yet."
"Well, that is something we must rectify!" she said whilst looping her arm around Ashley's shoulders. Ash ignored the slightly pungent BO while Bhatia spoke. "Oh, you should have seen that man when he first walked up to me. We'd already known each other a couple months, and as a friend I did really like him. So he goes to ask me out on a date, and poor Samesh looks like he's on the brink of fainting.
"Looking back, I wished I could have told him there wasn't any reason to be nervous. I'd always thought he was nice and a little cute when he got flustered. And despite my better judgment, I said yes. He looked absolutely shocked at first, but then he got one of the biggest smiles I'd ever seen.
"Originally the plan was to just go out on one or two dates and let him down easy. But when it was just the two of us, he was a different person. He became romantic and caring, and he'd always show me such a good time on our dates. By the time I stopped for a moment and took stock of what was happening, we'd been dating four months and I had a difficult time imagining the rest of my life without Samesh Bhatia in it."
Nirali trailed off into silence. Ashley had always known the woman loved her husband, but looking at her face right now, she can practically see the memories playing behind Nirali's eyes, and her faced was utterly relaxed with a happy expression. Come to think of it, Ash had seen that same expression on John's face several times yesterday.
"It sounds like you really love him." Ash told her sagely.
Bhatia let out a content hum in response. "I guess it just goes to show that love can find us in the most unexpected of people." She fixed Ashley with a knowing look as she pulled away. "Ah, listen to me chattering on. A young girl like you has better things to do than listen to this old bag rant about days gone by."
They stopped in front of the motel. "Oh come on, you know I love listening to your stories from years past. Tell me again, what was it like to meet Barrack Obama?"
Nirali laughed and playfully shoved her superior. "Laugh it up now, Williams. Someday you'll be just as old as me." She started to veer off and work back into a jogging motion. "Now, I have to go finish my run. I'll talk to you later, Chief."
Ash waved goodbye as she ran off, and went back to making her way to her motel room. Once inside she dropped her things on the nightstand and let herself flop onto her bed, letting out a content sigh. She laid there for a while, thinking over the events of the past few days and the time she spent with John Shepard.
I guess it just goes to show that love can find us in the most unexpected of people.
Ashley found she could agree with Nirali wholeheartedly.
Author's Notes:
And that wraps up the story arc I had planned for pre Mass Effect. The next few chapters, which I will post as soon as I can but don't expect anything for about a week, will cover the beginning of Mass Effect 1. After that I have ideas for where I want the story to go, but the real challenge will be coming up with a plausible way to get to them.
So, if anyone has an idea for a filler chapter, I'm all ears. Beyond that, please feel free to review and talk about how much you love me or how much you hate me. Either works.
And one more big thank you to everyone who has read and supported this story so far. I really appreciate all of it.
